Strength of the Heart
by Kairianne
Summary: When The Promised Day approaches, Roy Mustang finds himself gaining more of a moral boost from an unexpected source and finds yet another reason to continue to keep pushing forward and up. AU Oneshot based off of an upcoming story sometime in the future.


**AN: Hullo! This is a oneshot of an idea for a story that was bouncing around in my head while I was trying to work on Chapter 11 of Moonlight Lullaby. So those who have been waiting for the new chapter, it is coming, but the damn plot bunnies for this oneshot wouldn't leave me alone! DX I may be going against my "One Story at a Time" policy, and start writing the story based off of this, which is going to be called Goddesses of the Gate, WHILE working on Moonlight Lullaby. _**

**Anyway, this is a Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood/Drakengard crossover, meaning it's an AU of the anime/manga because when I start getting the full story out, well, yeah... it's gonna be different. I own nothing, everything belongs to respective owners, even the Angelus in this story, even though she's the granddaughter of the Angelus of the original game. But the OC is mine.**

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**The night was quiet, the only sounds heard were the natural ones of the woods; the hoot of an owl, a rustling of its wings as it flew from one branch to the next, the soft chirp of the crickets, the stirring of leaves as a light breeze passed through the branches above, the trickling of a stream nearby. Nothing disturbed the normalcy of the forest, not even the soft sounds of military-issued boots walking along the undergrowth of the forest-floor, a whispering crunch with every step.

Roy Mustang moved slowly, not exactly going anywhere, he just needed some time to think. No one in their small band of exiles noticed his departure, except Hawkeye. His Lieutenant had glanced up at him for a moment, a silent question in her eyes, when he had stood, but he had shaken his head, letting her know silently that he wanted to be alone. She had nodded in understanding before turning back to the conversation between Fullmetal, the Homunculus Greed and the two chimeras, Darius and Heinkel. Only Hawkeye noticed that he slipped away...

And probably Leia as well, who had been keeping a silent watch from the branch of a tree near their small campsite. She never missed much...

The Colonel took a quick glance over his shoulder. He could still see the glow of the campfire and, if he strained his ears, hear the others voices, even if he couldn't make out the words. But they were safe; their watch would alert them of anyone dangerous, whether it be man or beast, long before such danger saw them.

Even from the shadows, they were safe.

He had always laughed when his men would be spooked by supernatural stories; of things that went bump in the night, or slunk through the shadows. It wasn't so funny now that he knew otherwise: there were scary things that go bump in the night, and the shadows could come alive and tear you apart. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised now if there were such things as ghosts and "Warehouse Thirteen"s...

Roy found himself stepping out of the forest and finding that the ground ended a few yards away. He stood on a ledge of sorts that overlooked the rest of the forest and he could see the lights of Central in the distance. Sighing, hands in the pockets of his military uniform pants that he was wearing under his long black over-coat, he walked over to a tree that stood about ten feet from the edge and leaned against it with his left shoulder. He looked towards Central, thinking of the days to come. The Promise Day was drawing closer and they were getting ready for it. His aunt and adopted mother, Christmas Mustang, would get word out to General Grumman about what would be going down in Central in due time and be there for when it came time to slip back into the city. Meanwhile, he and the others in their small group will be rendezvousing at a certain area, founded by Leia, meeting up with others that would be rising up against Bradley, the other Homunculus and the corrupt military Generals.

But will their small rebel army be enough to stop The Promise Day?

"This is crazy," Roy whispered to himself.

"_Crazy it may be, but then again, we are all fools..."_

Roy smirked and gave a soft grunt in agreement. "Couldn't agree with you more, Angelus," he replied, looking over to his right. He had been so lost in thought he hadn't noticed that the large red dragon had been resting beside the forest edge when he emerged from there moments ago. Despite her great size, she could be just as silent as her pact partner.

He turned, back pressing against the tree, when he heard her move closer to the edge. He watched her settle herself back down near him, her two powerful legs folded underneath her body and her great wings folded to her sides. Her tail laid on the ground, curving slightly to her right, the heavy dark red, almost black, tip moving from side to side slowly, the fissures in the thick scales glowing from within like molten lava. She stared out towards Central, her eyes glowing like the stars in the sky above them. _"But those demons cannot, will not, beat fools such as we. You humans have something that they do not."_

"Oh yeah?" Roy asked, sliding himself down to sit on the ground, back still pressed against the tree. He brought his left knee up and rested the arm on the same side on top of it. "And what is that?"

The red dragon turned her head slightly to look at him. _"It took my grandmother forming a pact with a human, just like myself, to see how you humans have been able to live so long. We both saw humans as weak and retched things... but as we got to know our pact partners, we could see that despite their small size and short lives, and their cruelty to each other, they have a strength that surpasses those weaknesses: Their will to live, to fight for and protect the ones they love, even if it's to a bitter death. How they can go against all odds and still come out with their heads held high. Their pride in being who and what they are. The strength of your hearts, that is what you have that they do not._

"_My grandmother found herself coming to love Caim, and in the end, decide to become the next Goddess, the next Seal, to protect the world, just as I love Leia, ten thousand years later. Which is why I made that decision with her to become the Goddess back in our world that was facing Armageddon, bringing back old magics to save a world, a people, that was not ready to die just yet, despite those of the same race that continued to knowingly destroy the planet. With our sacrifice, we purified the world, giving those that we left behind a new and fresh start, which they ended up destroying anyway. We were chosen to protect this world afterwards, given a second chance as reward to our sacrifice that was in vain."_

"That's why the both of you were so... _mad_... when we first found you," Roy said softly. "You had to suffer while watching the world you gave up everything for was destroyed once again, knowing that you could do nothing about it." He drew his knee up closer to his chest, wrapping his arm around it before burrowing his nose into the crook of his elbow, his gaze drifting towards the lights of the city corrupted by evil, unknown to the people living happily in it. "How can you call us strong, when we do nothing but cause destruction and death?" he whispered softly, closing his eyes as thoughts of Ishval swam through his head.

"_Not all humans are good, Roy, you know that as well as I," _Angelus said. _"And Ishval was never your fault, but the jackals that ordered you to kill so many. If you didn't follow orders, you would have been shot down and slaughtered just as quickly as those people. In the end, you didn't cower in shame, but rose up with a purpose; to not allow something like this to happen again. Everything you do and have done since then is for that purpose, despite everything that was thrown at you: the higher-ups in the military always trying to push you down as you climbed steadily up the ranks, Wrath taking your men and support from you, the death of Maes Hughes..."_ at that, Roy flinched, arm tightening around his knee just slightly. _"Despite all that, you still push onward, never giving up. It's the same with Edward Elric, his brother, that Rockbell girl, those chimera that want nothing more than to see their families again. You all have a purpose, a goal, and will continue to fight for it until the breath leaves your bodies and your hearts stop beating. The same with me and Leia; we are the Goddesses, the Guardians, of this world. We watched one world fall despite our sacrifice to save it, and could do nothing. Now that we can do something, we will not let this world meet the same fate."_

Roy opened his eyes and looked up at the dragon. The two held eye contact while Angelus' words sunk in. Finally Roy nodded and stood up. He walked over to the dragon and brought up his right arm and rested it across her chest. He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against his arm as he spoke, "I will fight, you know I will... but... I need a little help..."

His body tensed for a moment and then relaxed as he felt the heavy weight of her head press gently against his back. _"Fool human..._" she said gruffly, but kindly. _"We will stand by your side... all of us..."_

They stood like that for he didn't know how long until the soft whisper of footsteps coming towards them could be heard. Roy lifted his head as Angelus moved her own away slightly, looking over to see Leia approaching them, moonlight making her automail left arm and leg look like molten silver. Her thick hair fell to her shoulder-blades in layers and thin beaded braids, except a braided queue that started from back crown of her head and fell past her hips. It was a red-copper in color, except for the under-layers of hair, which were black. The young woman gave him a small smile and asked, "You okay?"

Roy grunted, pulling away from the dragon as he nodded. "Yeah, just had to clear my head."

Leia chuckled softly and said, "It has been a crazy couple of days."

Roy barked out a short laugh and ran his hand through his hair. "'Couple days'?" he replied. "Try a couple _months_." He looked up at Angelus and then back to Leia. "When this is over, Fuhrer or not, I'm ordering a damn long vacation to everyone. A year if I can get it!"

Leia laughed and walked up closer to Roy. "Right," she said, punching him lightly with her flesh hand. "And then you'll become lazy, and then what will this world come to?"

"Naw, I won't become lazy," Roy replied with a wave of his hand. When Leia gave him a skeptical look, he said, "I rather enjoy my ass not being riddled with bullet holes, thank you very much."

Leia snorted, shaking her head, queue swinging slightly like a pendulum, before moving to settle herself down beside Angelus, her back leaning against the dragon's folded wing and side. Roy sat down beside her and the three of them sat in a comfortable silence. At some point Roy took off his overcoat and blue military jacket, the heat from the dragon making it a bit too warm for those two articles of clothing. The black coat was draped over their legs while the jacket he settled over Leia's bare shoulders after he noticed her give a small shiver.

Leia tipped her head back and looked up at the stars that glowed so brightly away from the city lights. She gave Roy a nudge before lifting a hand and pointing up. "See that one?" she asked, pointing out a cluster of stars. When the Colonel nodded, she said, "That one looks kinda like a rabbit, don't it?"

"Yeah," Roy said, a soft smile on his face. He scanned the sky some before pointing out another one. "And that one looks like a mother bear and her cub. See it?" Leia nodded as Roy pointed out another afterwards. "That one looks a bit like a dragon, don't you think?" he asked, glancing down at her. Leia had a small smile on her lips, her face seeming to glow from the moonlight, the stars reflecting off of her eyes, the red-violet of them seeming like the deep purple of the sky after the sun set. Roy felt something warm bloom in his gut and he looked back to the sky before he did something he may or may not regret.

"Yeah, it does," she said. "Looks like Angelus." Above them, said dragon gave a small snort in amusement.

"I remember doing this as a kid," Roy said softly. "There were times that Aunt Chris would take me to the countryside for a weekend and I would lay out on the grass and see how may shapes I could make out from star clusters, and try to find the constellations, but those were a bit harder. I did it when I was apprenticing under Master Hawkeye as well, although Riza always thought I was weird for laying out of the grass for hours on end, staring up at the sky. Hell, I caught myself doing it a few times back in Ishval. Guess it kept me sane, in a way, bringing up good memories in all that..."

He jolted slightly when Leia unexpectedly rested her head on his shoulder. "When this is over," she said, "you, me and Angel will go somewhere where all we can see are the stars, more than we can see here. We'll find a place where no one will be around and no one can find us. Where we can let ourselves forget everything. It'll be just us three... how's that sound?"

"Mmm..." Roy replied, nodding before resting his head against Leia's. "That would be nice... to just forget, even if it's for a little while." He felt Leia nod underneath him and her left arm shifted between them. He glanced down and saw her automail hand resting on top of his coat between them. Going with the sudden impulse, he slowly took her hand in his own, lacing their fingers together. Leia didn't say anything, but tightened her fingers slightly around his.

"Lee," he whispered after a while. "What was the price you paid, for the pact? I know the mark is on your back, but... what did you lose?"

Leia was quiet for a moment and Roy thought that she wasn't going to answer. Finally, in a voice that he had to strain to hear, she replied, "My time..."

Roy lifted his head up and looked at her. She was staring down at their entwined hands, her eyes saddened. Above them, Angelus was silent. "What?"

"The price for the pact... it was my time." She looked up at him and gave him a sad smile. "I'm 103 years old, Roy. When I formed the pact with Angelus, my time was taken from me. I will never age while those around me will grow old and die. Before we became the Seal, I had watched my family grow old and pass on while I remained, so when Angelus said that she would become the next Goddess like her grandmother before her, I decided that I would as well. There was nothing left for me there, except Angel."

"_And because I am her pact partner, my own time has slowed to an almost stop,"_ Angelus said. _"The two of us will live on in this world, on the side lines of the circle of life."_

"So, you're going to have to watch us grow old and die... watch us leave you behind?" Roy whispered, his heart feeling heavy with the agony he felt. He couldn't bear the thought of growing old and dying, knowing that she couldn't follow. "Where is the equivalence in _that_?" he choked out.

"It will be hard, but I will be there to protect your children, and your children's children, and so on." Leia pressed her flesh hand over Roy's mouth when he opened it to argue. "I knew the risks, Roy, when I chose to form a pact with a dragon. Even if my time hadn't been taken, I would still have had an extended life because dragons live for so long. So I will enjoy every minute I have with my friends and loved ones, with you and the others, because they will be moments I will enjoy remembering forever. Like this moment here: you and me, looking at the stars. Because in a hundred years from now, when you are dead and gone, I will look to those stars and remember you, and in that way, you will always be with me." Before he could say anything, she pressed herself up against him, resting her head over his heart. He wrapped his arms around her, his face buried in her hair.

They sat like that for what seemed like hours before Leia whispered against his chest, "We should get back to the others, and get some rest. It's gonna be a long day tomorrow."

"Yeah," Roy replied, slowly pulling away from her. He pushed himself to his feet, overcoat in hand. He held out a hand for her to take, which she accepted, and helped stand her up. Instead of letting go of her hand though, he pulled her up against him, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

"Roy...?"

"When this is over," he said, "I'll make sure that you enjoy every minute... no, every _second_, you have with us, with me. I promise."

Leia was silent, but she wrapped her arms around him, her hands gripping his shirt at his back. He felt her warm tears dampen his shirt at his shoulder but he didn't care. When she pulled away, her eyes and cheeks glistened with tears. She smiled at him and whispered, "Thank you." Then she reached up the couple inches between them and gave him a soft kiss on his lips.

When she pulled away, he returned her smile with one of his own. "You're welcome." He looked up at Angelus and asked, "Will you be staying here?"

"_Yes, I will keep watch. I will see you when the sun rises."_

Roy grunted an affirmative and stepped back from his and Leia's embrace, but took one of her hands in his own, the automail one. "Come on, let's head back, before Greed thinks we've taken off and abandoned ship."

Leia laughed and nodded and she fell in step beside him, her flesh hand holding the lapels of his blue jacket closed so it stayed over her shoulders, her automail one held tightly in his own.

As they made their way back towards camp, he thought back on what Angelus told him before and then his promise to Leia just minutes ago. _She's right, _he thought. _When we do have something worth living for, we fight for it until the bitter end, despite whatever stands in our way. I will become Fuhrer and make this country a better place, and I will spend every minute of the rest of my life with Leia so when I finally pass on, she will have something to carry with her, that will never tarnish or dull or fade away, forever. It's the least I can do for the one who will protect all that I've worked for when I'm gone._

With that thought, his determination was refreshed and he continued to look forward, towards a brighter future. And when they reached camp, and Edward yelled out, "Where the hell did you take off to, Colonel Bastard?" and his reply was, "Aw, did you miss me, shorty?" which was followed by Ed's usual rant, he knew that they _will_ win this. Despite how Bradley tried to weaken him by taking his men from his command, he only took the physical aspects away. No matter how far away they were, he still had their support, and that they, and the people around him at this moment, will stand and fight with him. Because those damn homunculi could take whatever they wanted from them, but they couldn't take the strength of their hearts.

And _that_ will lead them to victory.


End file.
